The Oscar race for Best Picture is beginning to firm up, and it looks like a battle between new and old. In this corner, you have the cutting-edge charms of The Social Network, with its cast of under-30s (including one of the biggest pop stars in the world), and on the other side of the ring with Harvey Weinstein as cornerman, you’ve got the decidedly old-school The King’s Speech. Colin Firth stars as the stammering King George VI, who hires a speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) to help him overcome his impediment while his country’s on the verge of war, and Helena Bonham Carter is in there, too, hiding her trademarked crazy hair under a tasteful hat. The film killed on the fall festival circuit, and while The Social Network still has everybody buzzing, the more traditional charms of The King’s Speech could be powerful — especially with the never-stammering Weinstein ready to shout about it from the rooftops.
